The United States dominates the world market for such nontropical dried fruits as raisins and prunes, reports the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in its publication Industry and Trade Summary: Nontropical Dried Fruits. Other principal dried fruits covered in the summary include dried apricots, dried apples, dried berries, and dried peaches.

The ITC, an independent nonpartisan, factfinding agency, recently released the report as part of an ongoing series of reports on thousands of products imported into and exported from the United States. Other highlights of the report follow:

• The U.S. dried fruit industry is geographically concentrated, with most nontropical dried fruits shipped from California, which grows and dries the bulk of U.S. produced dried fruit.

• The production of raisins has declined in recent years because more raisin grapes are being used for alternative products such as wine, fresh grapes, and grape juice.

• Dried apricots is the only product covered in this summary which is dominated by imports. Most of the dried apricots consumed in the United States are imported, and most of the imports come from Turkey, which also dominates the world market for dried apricots. In 1997, 89 percent of the dried apricots exported in world markets came from Turkey.

• U.S. stocks of dried prunes have increased fivefold in the past 5 years because of a world glut of dried prunes. The United States imported less than one-half of 1 percent of its domestic prune consumption in 1997/98. In 1997, two-thirds of the dried prunes that were exported in world markets was supplied by the United States.

• The United States exported 38 percent and 37 percent, respectively, of its raisin and prune production in 1997.

ITC Industry and Trade Summary reports include information on product uses, U.S. and foreign producers, and tariff treatment of the products being studied; they analyze the basic factors affecting trends in consumption, production, and trade of the commodities, as well as factors bearing on the competitiveness of the U.S. industry in domestic and foreign markets.

This report will be available on the ITC's Internet server at http://www.usitc.gov. A printed copy may be requested by calling 202-205-1809 or by writing the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E St., SW, Washington, DC 20436. Requests may be faxed to 202-205-2104.